French industrial output rose in May in an encouraging sign for the French economy, figures released today showed.
Statistics office INSEE said industrial production rose 0.3 per cent from April, helped by a surge in the output of capital goods. That compared to a fall of 0.3 per cent recorded the previous month.
Economists polled by Reuters had on average expected May industrial production to increase 0.4 per cent month on month.
Industrial production excluding energy, agri-food businesses and construction, which INSEE considers the best measure of manufacturing output, increased 0.5 per cent in May, compared to the previous month.